Articles

Austin Trout Snaps Losing Streak at Pechanga’s Long Fight Card

Published

9 years ago

August 23, 2014

TEMECULA-As Austin “No Doubt” Trout looked up following a second knockdown from Australia’s Daniel Dawson it looked grim for the former junior middleweight world titlist on Friday.

“I told myself to tighten my (stuff) up,” said Trout (27-2, 14 Kos) after the second knockdown.

That he did as the former WBA junior middleweight titlist rallied against the shorter Dawson and floored him in the eighth round to go on and win by unanimous decision before more than 1,500 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino.

For the first two rounds Trout controlled the fight with his longer reach and height. Dawsonlooked to find a way inside and didn’t have to wait long.

In the third, Trout advanced quickly to fire a combination and Dawson returned fire with a perfect counter right hand blast that sent Trout on the floor. A more determined Trout got up with a stern look on his face eager to return the favor. As he fired more combinations looking for a knockdown, the smaller Australian fighter returned another crisp right hand bomb and down went Trout again.

“After the second knockdown I told myself I got to tighten up,” Trout said about his defense. “He was strong.”

After eating counter right hands Trout changed his plan of attack and began feinting by moving in and out. His longer reach gave him a natural advantage that proved beneficial for the next two rounds.

“I had to tighten my stuff up,” said Trout who lost the WBA junior middleweight world title to Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2013. “I was just too anxious. It’s something I have to work on.”

In round seven the confidence began to seep back into the former champions movements that now seemed more fluid. During a flurry of punches Dawson walked away limping and turned his back. Trout looked confused at referee Jack Reiss now knowing what to do. The referee asked the Australian if he could continue and he nodded yes.

“I tore the muscles in my calf,” said Dawson. “I couldn’t hit with any power after that. Maybe it’s old age.”

Trout emerged for round eight with renewed confidence especially knowing that Dawson’s right leg was hurt. The New Mexican fighter opened the round with a three punch combination that saw Dawson slump to the floor. He beat the count but could only survive the rest of the round.

It was all Trout for the rest of the fight as he poured on the combinations on the lame duck Dawson who was only able to hop around for the last four rounds. After the 10th went into full-attack mode. Dawson made it to the final bell.

“If I had two more rounds I definitely would have finished him,” said Dawson. “But I was glad to be in a good fight.”

Other bouts

San Bernardino’s Joshua Conley (9-0-1, 6 Kos) used quick combinations to win by unanimous decision against Detroit’s Antonio Urista (5-1, 2 Kos) after six rounds of a junior middleweight bout. Conley’s quicker combinations proved the difference. The scores were 58-56 and 59-55 twice for Conley.

Egypt’s Ahmed Elbiali (6-0) featured the knockout of the night when he caught Dwayne Williams (4-4) with a dynamite right hand that ended the fight at 1:51 of round one. Both were firing punches but Elbiali landed first and Williams ran into the big puncher’s right hand bomb.

Commerce’s Joaquin Chavez (9-14-3, 2 Kos) and Garden Grove’s Jessie Roman (17-2, 9 Kos) traded knockdowns in a back and forth welterweight battle that saw the fighter from Commerce emerge with a split decision victory. Chavez often battles with some of the best prospects and rarely gets the decision. But against Roman’s knockdown in the first round, Chavez seemed to take over and dropped Roman later in the fight. He kept the momentum and won by split decision 74-76, 77-73 and 76-74.

Van Nuys Juan Funez (6-0-1, 2 Kos) remained undefeated after a fierce war with Hemet’s Fernando Fuentes (4-3) in a four round featherweight firefight. Neither fighter was close to being knocked down but Funez emerged with a majority decision.

Junior welterweight prospect Erick Bone, known for his speed and knockout power, found Mexico’s Mahonri Montes too tough in the early going. After unloaded a few blurring combinations that seemed to have no effect, the Equadorian used his speed of foot to control the fight.

The taller Montes showed a good chin in absorbing some furious blows, but never could catch up to Bones who circled the ring easily and fired impressive combinations to win by unanimous decision after 10 rounds. Judges scores were 97-93 twice and 100-94 for Bones.

L.A. heavyweight Avery Gibson (4-6-2) upset Washington D.C.’s Danny Kelly (6-1-1, 5 Kos) after six rounds of back and forth fighting. Gibson seemed to take control in the middle of the fight by using a jab. Kelly tired in the latter rounds and that gave the L.A. heavyweight the advantage in the score cards.

Las Vegas heavyweight Michael Hunter (6-0, 4 Kos) pounded out Detroit’s Harvey Jolly (15-21-1) in the fourth round. Jolly hit the deck several times.

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David A. Avila

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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